


Onesided (Communicate)

by BlueRam



Category: Naruto
Genre: Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Lack of Communication, M/M, Mutual Pining, NaruSasu - Freeform, Romance, sns
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-08-19
Updated: 2018-10-19
Packaged: 2018-12-17 04:26:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,188
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11843916
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BlueRam/pseuds/BlueRam
Summary: We are always circling each other.  Never to meet in the center because we are so afraid. What we have is so fragile and the world sits back and judge our moments together. We rip ourselves apart. One wonders how far we could come if we only communicate. The love... the love we could achieve.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [OnceUponABlueMoon](https://archiveofourown.org/users/OnceUponABlueMoon/gifts), [sultrypickle](https://archiveofourown.org/users/sultrypickle/gifts).



*PART 1*

Sasuke’s Pov

“Don’t go. Please. Just- ” The moment the words left his lips, whispered as they were, he regretted it. It made him seem a fool! Feeling too much and moving too fast! Revealing all that he should have kept bottled tight inside his heart! Sasuke cursed himself inside, fighting the lump in his throat and wondering just when had he evolved to the point that he would make a fool of himself?

As it was the setting spoke nothing to his mood. The sky was clear and bright with soft clouds lazily traversing a route ever so familiar. The soft summer breeze was but a whisper against his skin. And the leaves of bright green trees so common in Konoha chattered happily among each other.

No, it didn’t fit the setting for at that moment Sasuke could at least admit to himself that he was afraid. His heart thuds painfully against his chest when Naruto suddenly stopped walking. When he seemingly hesitated, his cloak gently fluttering in the wind and Konoha a terrible presence even now looming behind him.

Konoha that had taken so much from him and forever left a bitter taste in his mouth.

There was that tension between them. The type of stress that left the back of your neck hot and your breath shallow. The kind that made it feel like your body would give out on you as you nervously run the palms of your hands against your pant leg.

For Sasuke, it might have been a coward thought and so much unlike him but-

He wished Naruto wouldn’t turn around.

If he did, then they would open those emotions buried so deep down because they could only ever bring pain. They would have to face the terrible truth that existed between them.

Naruto, he turns slowly, and Sasuke could feel the dread that weighed heavily on his chest.

“D-did you say something?” Naruto’s voice had deepened much over the years. The same as Sasuke’s really, if not that it held that husky undertone as if Naruto had been screaming for days. Despite that, neither of the two could ignore the slight tremor in Naruto’s words.

Maybe it was because they both knew what it meant. Knew that if they spoke too quickly, jumped across that one last barrier between them- it could spell disaster.

The wind stilled, and if one listened close enough, the sound of children laughing in the village behind them sounded terribly loud. Sasuke could even hear Sakura who should have been far in the distance with Kakashi. He could make out every word, how both she and Kakashi wondered why Naruto hadn’t caught up just yet.

The fact that staring into deep blue eyes he could see how terrified Naruto was. Even if hope lingered and he could see how the man longed to reach out-

Reach out and what?

Sasuke could feel when the numbness set in. Feel as he locked every single emotion away that told him to step forward. Let Naruto hold him tight and not let go. Tell him to walk away with him and leave Konoha and all it held behind.

Tell him not to let that woman take his place because they had gone through too much for this to be their end. Too much for them not to complete the damn circle that was their life!

“I said…congratulations.” Uchiha’s had always felt too much. And perhaps that’s why as those words left his lips he felt the delicate tissue of his heart rip. Maybe that’s why his chest burned, and he felt like he would tumble over the edge when Naruto just looked on with acceptance and sad eyes.

“ Yeah, I guess. Thank-you.” So out of character. Sasuke could hear himself scream at the man. No! Fight for us damn it! Fight! Don’t let me leave!

Please don’t!

As it was, he was silent as he gave the barest hint of a smile. Or maybe it was a grimace as he raised his hand and bid Naruto a silent goodbye. He turned away, walked away first because he couldn’t bear to watch Naturo’s back. Like the blonde must have done for him when he had chased him for years.

He could be selfish but not when it concerned Naruto. Konoha would always be relevant to the blond. It was a big part of who he was. He wouldn’t ruin his chances to finally reach the pedestal he had fought for among Konoha’s people.

After all, he was the hated Uchiha traitor like his brother had been. And Naruto was the golden boy who would be Hokage. The golden boy who would marry a pure sweet stranger if the politics of the village had its way.

If Sasuke had looked back, he would have seen how Naruto had taken two quick steps. He would have seen how Naruto physically restrained himself because he thought the separation was what Sasuke wanted. How he dug his nails in his hand and bit his lip so he wouldn’t call out.

Look back, Sasuke!

Look back! The silent plea in blue eyes that would slowly dim. No tear would escape their tight confines even if Naruto felt a part of his soul shatter the further Sasuke wondered.

Naruto would smile a pained smile. He would feel like he was suffocating under water even as he walked away himself. He would look up at the gates of Konoha and see Hinata strangely waiting for him. She would blush and stutter, and Sakura would look on with knowing eyes. Smiling and feeling happy about something she knew nothing about as much as he loved her as a sister.

He would manage a trembling smile even if he turned down Hinata’s offer for a morning stroll.

Naruto would wonder of the pain in his heart, and it felt like he had made the biggest mistake of his life.

“Sasuke.” He would whisper a silent look over his shoulder, the wind blowing through blond hair newly cut.

* * *

 

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	2. Chapter 2

~~~~*Naruto’s Pov *

The leaves of the aged books rustled. The yellowed parchment bound in twine and something no one could truly define, smelt of the history that long since defined Konoha. Naruto frowned, knuckle pressed against his cheek as he propped himself up with his arm. He listlessly spun the pages this and that way, a gentle wind caressing the back of his neck and teasing the fine hairs there.

He could almost believe Sasuke was with him then. That it was his thin fingers that carded through his hair. That massaged his scalp so hesitantly, before trailing a light touch to the base of his neck.

“13 months, three weeks and four days,” He muttered to himself. He ignored the curious look of the woman he had come to know as the Hokage’s secretary. A Chunin he recalled, that was severely injured and unable to carry out the regular task of a Konoha kunoichi. He could understand her curiosity. He was not only one of two candidates for the post as the next Hokage.

The only candidate if the village and politics had its way. But also, for hours since Kakashi had insisted he read up on the history and political manoeuvres of the village, all he had done was stare out the expanse of wide windows. Lost to the torrent of thoughts that proved more painful than anything even with the beautiful clear sky and singing birds.

He remembered how seemingly easy it was for Sasuke to walk away from him that day. How he thought the man had-

It was a moot point. Sasuke had left with a measly congratulations that tasted bitter in his mouth and he-

He had let him.

He clenched his fist tight, beads of blood staining his hand as his nails pierced through calloused skin. It stung, but not as much as that particular day. The day he walked away Sasuke at his back and Hinata placed in front of him with Sakura the ever encouraging force.

He had let him go!

He stood and watched with his voice stuck in his throat and his heart pounding a terrible rhythm in his chest like the one he lo-

The one he…

How pathetic that even knowing what he did. Having come to a realisation when they had lain bleeding out, missing an arm each, he couldn’t say what was most apparent!

He was never one to be afraid. He always went after what he wanted. That much was proven when he had selfishly pursued Sasuke when he had defected. At the time he couldn’t understand Sasuke’s pain or his need to take the path he chose. After Jiraiya’s death, he began to understand truly. It didn’t stop him from pursuing Sasuke, but the way he did it had changed.

He didn’t push too much; he exercised restraint, something that seemed ridiculous considering it was him! He had begun to listen. And Sasuke’s argument that had once been white noise to his ears became something he held onto and fought desperately.

The thought was enough for him to laugh lowly to himself. The sound garnered the secretary’s curious stare yet again a soft shadow of blush across her cheeks. She couldn’t be faulted. Naruto had grown to be quite handsome though not in that classical way. He was more roguish, with a defined jawline and deep tan skin. Hair still spiky but perhaps not as chaotic because of the undercut he now sprouted.

“Uzumaki-san, are you alright?” she cleared her throat. The action jarred Naruto from his thoughts, and so quickly the smile slipped from his lips. Her expression was similar to Sasuke and maybe if not for her prominent feminine figure he could very slightly mistake her for the Uchiha. Dark hair though Sasuke’s was darker, carrying that blue tint and silky soft.

He remembered the feeling, a vivid memory when Sasuke at one time had fallen asleep against his chest. It was a few months after the war. They were both recovering from their injuries, both equipped with prosthetics for the arms they lost. They were pumped up with pain meds, not that it had any effect on him. It burned through his system as any drug did. The pain though he could bear with, his tolerance for it more than most. Sasuke though, the pain meds had left him cuddly and mostly out of it.

Naruto would admit that his throat had gone dry and his heart had all but given up on him. Landing in his stomach when the Uchiha had casually left his bed and climbed into his crumpled sheets. Without a word Sasuke was neatly tucked into his side, cold fingers buried under his orange shirt and sprawled along his muscled abdomen.

Long legs were thrown over his hips and a soft head of hair buried in his neck. He had blushed as red as Hinata had often done before cautiously gathering the Uchiha in his arms. One dark eye had opened, seeing everything and nothing, dark brows creased before the teme had muttered, “ Usuratonkashi.”

Sasuke as infuriating as he had been then, taking liberties in his drugged up state and still being a bastard, was beautiful.

Sasuke was beautiful.

Heartbreakingly beautiful with his pale, smooth skin and a scar here and there. Soft dusky lips parted high cheekbones and a glare that would take you to hell and back.

A handsome man that even when soft was never delicate.

Terrifying in his strength and resolve that one couldn’t help but be swept away in the Uchiha’s seduction.

Much too beautiful.

And he was in love with him.

“Uzuma-”

“I have to go! ” Naruto didn’t feel an ounce of shame when he rudely interrupted the woman. He was out of the much too soft seat, feeling like he couldn’t breathe and eyes burning for the tears that couldn’t fall. For a moment free from the invisible chains that were the Hokage’s seat, Konoha bright and filled with joy from the market below.

13 months, three weeks and four days it had been since he let Sasuke go.

The man didn’t write him, didn’t give any indication that he was still alive out there. The little door Sasuke had opened for him was slammed shut in his face, and he knew he was the only one to blame!

He didn’t fight for them! He had been his usual obtuse self but in all the wrong ways and it took this long for him to realise it.

Sasuke had wanted him to fight he realised.

The memory was clear!

Dark eyes were vulnerable and so sad. They were in pain, and his pale limbs were shaking. When he had first walked away, he hadn’t heard wrong even though he fooled himself to believe so. Sasuke had asked him not to go.

Naruto couldn’t bear it!

The ache in his chest when he realised what a fool he had been. He ran through the Hokage tower, ignoring Kakashi’s shouts for him to come back. Sasuke had asked him not to go before painfully backtracking and instead offering him congratulations for finally becoming a candidate for the Hokage post. The Uchiha must have seen his fear.

Fear of committing to Sasuke and turning upon them disapproving stares from the village he had wanted acknowledgement from for so long.

After all, even with all Sasuke had done for the village he would mostly be viewed with distrust now. Women and men alike pulled their children away from him when the Uchiha walked. They in their own way scorned him and even though Sasuke acted like he didn’t care,he did.

If only the slightest.

That’s what Naruto had been afraid of. Them being together would have brought more pain to Sasuke than anything. Konoha politics would have it no other way. He cursed himself for letting Sasuke believe Konoha for how much he loved the village, would always come before them.

A ‘them’ they hadn’t explored and let fade in the wind because neither would speak what was in their hearts.

Cowards!

Coward!

Naruto burst through his apartment and slammed his bedroom door shut. He didn’t think as he threw himself on his bed, head buried in his arms and he desperately held in his sobs.

He let Sasuke down.

After everything, all they had been through, somehow he let Sasuke down. He wanted to scream-

I'm sorry!

I'm so so sorry!

Sasuke I'm-

He let a moment of weakness take away all the happiness they could have had. It might have been unfair to place blame solely on his shoulders but-

The fact remained that Sasuke would never have taken the step forward. Not if Naruto himself held reservations. Sasuke was good at self-sabotage for those he loved dearly.

Naruto,he was just as good.

What fools. Naruto finally let those tears spill free. That part of his soul that had been torn for more than a year burning fiercely. Trying desperately to answer the call lands away.

That desperate call.

Naruto would look to the side where his headband lay. Remember how Sasuke’s used to sit beside his. He would remember the nights during their recovery as Sasuke tried to get used to his prosthetic.

How he would force a protesting Naruto to sit between his spread legs as he brandished shiny scissors. How the night air had been so cool against their skins as Sasuke dutifully cut his hair. Gently carding his fingers through thick blond locks as he worked on an undercut that he thought would suit the blond.

Naruto would rest his cheek against a firm thigh, and maybe he had kissed the exposed skin. A whim, an impulse as his calloused hand left light touches on a soft leg. The heat sudden heat between them unbearable.

Sasuke might have shuddered under the touch, and his breath might have hitched. He would want to close his thighs, mindful of Naruto who sat back turned between them. Hesitating and wanting more of that touch but ever silent. Silent as he tends to be.

They would look into each other’s eyes for a moment, Naruto ’s head tilted up Sasuke looking down, before slowly looking away both with lumps in their throats and a strange uncertainty.

What fools they were indeed.

* * *

 

>  


	3. Chapter 3

She loved him, with all her heart she loved him. He was everything that she could have ever wanted and needed. A pillar of strength where she had been weak. A beacon in her darkest moments as the world crumbled around her and her father disapproving stare tethered her to the burden of being The Hyuga family’s true blood heir.

“I see it you know. How much Naruto misses him. His absence does not weaken him; he might seem wholly affected as he works to win favour with the council and become the Hokage. Yet I still see it,” Sakura sighed, pushing a lock of hair behind her hair. Hinata finally pulled her gaze from Naruto who stood with his back to them, animatedly speaking to Tsunade. Brows furrowed as he tried to understand the woman’s new vision for medicine.

“It’s been three years, he—” Hinata protested, her voice soft, quivering the slightest bit as she searched for the truth in Sakura’s eyes. The woman looked at her with pity, green eyes softening, soft lips worried between her teeth.

Just like that the raw tendrils of anger sunk into her heart, just above the desperate feeling of loss and pain. She loved him! She has ever since she had first seen him in the academy.  A rebel like any other, bright and untouchable yet shunned by everyone around him, even Sakura who dared to look at her as if she were a child.

She loved him!

She loved Naruto with all her heart, and how she longed for the day he would look at her; only her. She didn’t think Sakura could understand. Her love for—that man was nothing like her love for Naruto. Curse her for thinking such ugly thoughts, but it was the truth. Their feelings could not compare, Sakura had no right to pity her.

“Sasuke was spotted a few weeks ago. He’s come a far way in his journey of redemption. I wanted to join him, tried tracking him down even, but that didn’t go too well,” Sakura smile was bitter as she moved away from Hinata, green eyes pinned to Naruto’s back, intense enough that said blond turned to look her way.

Hinata’s heart leapt when Naruto smiled at Sakura, the corners of his eyes crinkling before blue eyes slid over to Hinata. Maybe it was her imagination, but she was sure his smiled changed for her. His gaze softened, or perhaps it was a trick of the light. She didn’t know, but she let herself hope for just a moment.

Naruto had done so much for her. In their Genin days he gave her strength to fight and he, in turn, fought for her when she couldn’t. He was kind, and he saw her for who she was, not what she was. He didn’t care if she was the heir to a prestigious clan, or that back then she was considered little more than a disappointment. She wished desperately that then she had confessed her growing feelings instead of hiding away, staring at him from afar.

Admiring him for who he was and the man he would undoubtedly become in the future. She wished that somehow she could have been there on his journey as he crafted himself to be the man he was at present.

There had been talking around the village, in her household even. Naruto would become the next Hokage soon. He was being trained; he was learning politics and travelling the nation and meeting with their Daimyo. The next Hokage, but a different type of Hokage for there was no one in their history barring Hashirama Senju who strove to do the things he did to become a competent and transparent leader.

Naruto would change their world, she knew it. She also knew that as much as he would break from tradition something would remain. He would need a wife. He was proving himself to be a force to be reckoned with, and the council would need some insurance that for his power, there would calm and peace. There would be someone to help shoulder his burdens when politics and the faith of the village became too much.

She hoped, prayed that he would look her way, that Sakura was wrong. It had been three years. If Naruto’s bond to that man was so strong, why hadn’t he—

“I allowed my hopes and dreams to cloud the truth in front of me. Sasuke would never love me, at least not the way I want him to. Waiting on him and then chasing him down to somehow force him to see that he loved me was stupid of me. It was degrading for both of us and dismissive of his feelings,” Sakura gave a tiny wave, amused when Naruto pulled down his eyelid at her and stuck out his tongue.

She glanced at Hinata who stared so longingly at Naruto, saddened when she remembered that this was how she was years back-still was if only a little bit in a misguided dream of holding unto her first love. It was hard to let go, much too hard when you have convinced yourself wholly about your feelings.

Gently she placed a hand on Hinata’s shoulder, begged her to see reason.

“Hinata, I know you think you love Na—”

“I don’t think, I know! Don’t you dare dismiss my feelings because you realise you never loved Sasuke Uchiha!” Hinata shouted, before gasping in shock, hands pressed to her mouth, eyes wildly searching Sakura's. She hadn’t meant to say that! She didn’t want to hurt Sakura. Would never want that, yet she so carelessly spat out her truth.

Her feelings didn’t change, what she said she had meant them, but she would never speak her words so carelessly as to bring harm. That was not her way.

Staff watched them curiously whispering behind their hands, all eyes flickering to Sakura whose hair shadowed her face, her shoulders trembling before they stilled.

“Sakura, please I didn’t mean to—” Hinata hurried to apologise, ashamed of her behaviour, especially since Sakura was such a dear friend. When had she become so careless! The weight of her clan’s disapproval grew heavier on her shoulders when she had fought to become more than their expectations.

“I hope—” Sakura’s voice shook before she cleared her throat, wiping tears before they could spill down her cheeks and stared unforgiving into Hinata beautiful pale eyes.

“I hope when he tells you that he could never love you the way you want him to that you will survive. I hope that when he looks you in the eyes and tell you that he was in love, had always been and that there no more of his heart to give you won’t feel like your whole world is destroyed. I would never wish what happened to me to happen to you. You’re too precious and pure for such heartache,” Sakura sniffled before gathering up here work and moving to leave the office with the judgment of her peers at her back.

“I loved, Sasuke. I still do, but I’m learning to let go because I’m not what he wants or need. He doesn’t love me, and I finally listened,” Sakura whispered. Hinata felt as if she had been stabbed in the chest with a Kunai, barely holding on as her vision clouded with tears. She looked up to see Sakura passing Naruto, though not before placing a gentle kiss on his cheek and accepting the hug he offered. She moved on, head held high and again Naruto turned to look Hinata’s way a troubled look in his eyes.

Hinata sighed, mustering the tiniest smiles before returning to her work. She had hurt Sakura and felt terrible about it. Yet, she couldn’t silence the whispers that Sakura took her for a child. She was more than aware when it came unto the risks of love, especially when until this day her passion remained a secret in her heart.

She loved Naruto Uzumaki; she loved him. Maybe soon he would acknowledge her feelings and love her in return.

It had been three years, Naruto never once spoke of _him_. Even if there were times he stared over the Hokage Mountain, hand held firm over his chest longing in his gaze, it didn’t mean that his heart was taken.

It couldn’t mean that Sasuke Uchiha had stolen the heart of the man she loved and held it hostage. He was not here, she was. Naruto did not comb the world to find Sasuke, he remained in the village, a beacon of hope for their people, new and old.

It just couldn’t be that her chance had long since passed.

It just couldn't.

**Author's Note:**

> So I know some of you might be worried that I keep on posting small fics without an update for CROSS. unfortunately, my laptop is still out of commission and I can only manage these small fics on my phone. When my laptop is working again CROSS will definitely be updated! ^_^


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